


hello, my good old friend

by lxffi



Series: ITFandomWeek 2018 [2]
Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Attempt at cheating, Canon Compliant, M/M, Mention of underage drinking, Reunion, Richie Being Richie, ahem bill im lookin at u, closeted eddie, i dont like myra, like fr shading her in this and she's not even in the story, married eddie, married unloyal bill (bill stop tryna cheat on audra u dick)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 13:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lxffi/pseuds/lxffi
Summary: Eddie Kaspbrak just flew into Derry, memories on his tail. Excitement to once again see his best friends biting at his toes. Yet, there's an unsettling anxiousness to see one specific man.





	hello, my good old friend

**Author's Note:**

> Second work for IT Fandom Week - Angst/Breakup/Reunion  
> Reddie centric with minor Benverly

_ 1, 2, 3, puff. Breathe in, breathe out. 1, 2, 3, puff. _

Eddie shakily brought up the years old inhaler. He couldn't believe how anxious he had gotten. He hadn't touched his inhaler since he was a teenager, so why did he need it now?

Eddie guessed it was because it was sort of a comforting tactic. Even though he knew he didn't have asthma, the cooling air pumping into his lungs felt more like human comfort than anything his mother had given him.

The view of the familiar Chinese restaurant hit Eddie again with another wave of nerves.

_ 1, 2, 3, puff. Breathe in, breathe out. 1, 2, 3, puff. _

Small pieces of his memory flowed in. Old situations with old friends that could last a lifetime.

It troubled Eddie, however, that it took him this long to remember such happy times in his life. Most of his life filled with pain and lies didn't help the sudden realization.

Eddie exited the taxi, the lingering smell of cigarette smoke stayed with him.

The restaurant seemed more intimidating than he might have thought before. Honestly, everything seemed ten times more intimidating than usual.

Eddie took a shaky breath and forced himself to walk into the building.

The faint smell of duck sauce and wonton filled Eddie’s senses. This didn't calm his nerves, unfortunately.

Eddie made his way over towards the hostess. She was a pretty girl, but that didn't interest Eddie one bit.

Her features reminded him of his wife, Myra. A small frail woman with such plain features. The only difference between Myra and the hostess was their expressions. Myra’s constant frown was engraved in his mind. The small smile the hostess graced was like a breath of fresh air.

“Hello, my name is Christie and I will be hosting you tonight. Table for one?” The preppy voice coming from Christie snapped Eddie out of his troubling thoughts.

He could tell she was hesitant, people don't usually come into restaurants solo. Eddie could understand the fear of offending someone on the job. He knew too much of it from his own line of work.

“Uh, oh not at all. You see, I'm joining a few old friends of mine. Under the name Hanlon. Michael Hanlon.” Eddie gave Christie a small smile, which she returned. Christie looked down at her seating log. After a few seconds of searching, she nodded her head and motioned for Eddie to follow her.

They both walked through the restaurant, weaving in and out of tables. Soon enough they arrived to a separate open room.

One large table occupied the room, enough room to fit seven people or more. Only two other people had already arrived.

“Eddie! Precisely on time as always, I see that part hasn't changed about you.” A man with kind yet tried eyes spoke to Eddie. Automatically he knew this was Mike. Bits and pieces of his memory came to.

“Mike, sorry it took so long for me to get here. The plane was slightly delayed.” Eddie laughed slightly.

He walked up to Mike and engulfed him in a hug. Even touching the man gave Eddie more clarity in his memories.

The second person in the room was already nursing a drink. Eddie couldn't recognize him automatically, but as soon as he looked up and gave Eddie a small smile his identity came as clear as day.

“Ben Hanscom? Do my eyes deceive me or did you grow from our little poet?” Eddie spoke with a smile pulling at his lips. With how much Ben has changed, Eddie wondered if this was the boy his mind keeps nagging about.

Ben laughed bashfully. He placed down his drink with a soft clink and pushed himself off of his seat. With Ben standing at his full height, Eddie could fully see the changes he had gone through. Yet he still wasn’t so sure this was the man that Eddie asked a divorce over.

“Can say the same about you too, Kaspbrak. It’s crazy how much I missed you, but it feels like it all came at once just now.” Ben walked over towards Eddie and outstretched his arms for a hug. The shorter male accepted the form of affection.

“I feel the exact same way, it’s crazy.” The three men laughed in a mix of discomfort and tension. They all went to go sit at the large table together. Silence filled the air quickly, could you blame them? Last time they saw each other they were just teenagers.

Mike was the first one to end the awkwardness. Of course this settled a three men into nostalgia, missing the days where Mike always had something to talk about. Whether it be a question or plain out genuine compliments to the friends he had. 

“How about we talk about what the two of you have done with your lives, I missed twenty-two years of it and I’d like to be caught up.” Mike’s eyes carried a lot of tiring, lonely years in them. Yet they also shone with glee to be reunited with his friends once again.

 

The evening went on with many jokes and recollections passed around the table. At some point during the night Beverly and Bill walked into the dining space conversing wildly. Seeing them together brought a painful memory back to him, Eddie at 15 years old consoling a drunk Ben.

_ I just- I don’t know why it hurts so much Eddie! I should be happy for them, right? So why do I care so much that she wants to be with him but not me. Ugh, I am never going to drink again. _

Eddie looked away from the pair, memories of a crush creeping up on him. His attention turned over towards Ben, whose eyes didn’t drift from Beverly.

Eddie could see out of the corner of his eye what was happening with Beverly and Bill, even though he didn’t want to. He could see Bill stop Bev from fully walking into the dining room. His hands carelessly drifting from her hands to cradle her face. God, Eddie didn’t want to be witness to this anymore, especially more since he could see a ring on Bill’s left hand.

Eddie’s stomach clenched for Ben when he could see Bill lean in for a kiss. He closed his eyes so that he didn’t need to see anymore than he already had. That’s when he heard a high-pitched squeal. Eddie’s eyes snapped open to see Beverly move away from Bill’s grasp, her bright red lipstick still intact.

“Ben? Benjamin Hanscom? Looks more like Ben  _ Handsome _ .” Beverly, practically skipping, made her way towards Ben. She pulled him out of his chair and placed a kiss on his cheek as well as trapping him in a hug.

All the men in the room could see how flustered Ben had gotten at Beverly’s comment, it was even more amusing knowing that he had equally as good compliments as before but he never gave _ them  _ any mind.

Ben and Bev sat down next to each other, easily falling back into normal conversation. This ended up in Bill sitting next to Eddie, the other married man happy to have someone to talk to besides the woman he was just rejected by.

“Hey, Ed, how’ve you been?” And just like that Eddie fell into conversation again, the back of his mind still poking at him about a bespeckled boy.

 

By this time of the night, the group had already ordered their food. They all assumed the other two men they were waiting on were either not coming or are just going to be too late for dinner.

The joking amongst the group had died down a bit, the side effect of full stomachs was their inevitable need for rest. They were just about to leave the restaurant too, everyone insisting that they pay for the meals. The small meaningless argument stopped abruptly when someone walked in who wasn’t their waitress.

Eddie looked up to see just the man he had been unknowingly waiting for the entire night. Except this time it didn’t take him a second to remember who he was, the minute Eddie made contact with those blue eyes, he knew who he was.

_ Richie Tozier _ .

Except there was a large difference between the last time Eddie had seen Richie. This new, maybe improved, version of Richie was much taller than Eddie remembered. His hair was still unruly, however now there was some seen effort in calming the mess. Five o’clock shadow ever apparent. And his smile, holy hell his smile, was even brighter than the one Eddie fell for. After years of wearing colourful braces, Richie finally had that award-winning smile he bragged about getting.

Eddie reached for his drink as he watched Richie go around giving pleasantries and jokes around the table. Just as Eddie finished up his scotch, he could feel Richie approaching his side.

“Eds, my love, how have you been these past twenty-two years without me?” Richie spoke smoothly, his voice a bit hoarse from the years of adolescent smoking.

Eddie choked on the last drops of his drink, his coughing blocked with a handkerchief he quickly whipped out. Eddie brought up his free hand to stop Richie from talking anymore before he got a say in anything. That hand just happened to be his left hand.

“Oh… Married man, I see. Who’s the lucky lady?” The deflated emotion in Richie’s voice would have been obvious if Eddie wasn’t currently dying.

“Ack! Her name is Myra. Ugh, a-actually we’re separated. We just-- um, we need the papers filed is all and then I’ll be divorced from her.” Eddie didn’t know why he needed to clarify that to Richie. He also didn’t know why he felt the need to take off his ring and chuck it into the sewer all of a sudden.

“Ah.” Richie breathed out. And that was that, there wasn’t much more to the conversation. The two men fell into comfortable silence, as if there was never a rift between them.

Just like old times, Richie’s hands found their way to Eddie. Be it around his shoulders or placed against his knee, Richie Tozier still could not stray away from him. Eddie didn’t think he wanted him to leave anyway. Which reminded him of something.

“Hey, Rich?”

“Yeah, Eds?”

“Next time Richie ‘Records’ Tozier decides to spam my inbox with spaghetti pictures, I’m calling the police.”


End file.
